Chapter three – Dreaming

Three hours of homework had left Allen feeling drained and exhausted. It hardly seemed fair on his brain, all this work. Looking back on it the only education he'd had was the education Cross had provided for him over the internet just so he'd be able to say he'd passed middle school.

So, he was more than certain he'd only just scrapped through on the homework and was seriously wondering why Cross had insisted on enrolling him as a Junior even if his education was currently at Freshman level.
Groaning, Allen stood up and decided that if he were to expect passing grades he'd better wisen up a little bit.

"Kanda?"

"..."

"Kanda?" Allen repeated and the young, Japanese teen turned around to glare at him. Allen swallowed and forged on.

"Where's the library?"

"Che. Go ask Lenalee or that damn rabbit." Kanda muttered and returned his attention to his homework. Allen's eyebrow twitched dangerously. Lenalee and Lavi had provided him with their room numbers but the last thing Allen wanted to do was bother them. Kanda, however, he did not mind.

"C'mon." Allen pleaded. Kanda turned around slightly and Allen did not like the smirk that was playing along his lips. Not in the slightest.

"Maybe... If you beg."

Allen spluttered wordlessly for a moment as Kanda settled back to watch him with a self satisfied smirk now in full bloom. There was no way Allen was begging. He had his pride.

"Never mind. I'll find it myself." He snapped, turning around to stalk out the door.

"Good luck." Kanda called to his retreating back. Allen paused and turned slightly to look suspiciously over his shoulder at the older male. "What do you mean by that?"

"You've seen the size of the school. Do you honestly believe you can find your way there without somebody to hold your hand."

Allen hesitated, glaring at his roommate. It was silent for a moment.
"...Please?"

"What was that?" Kanda asked but judging by the expression on his face he had heard. He'd won the battle and he knew it. Now he was just in it to make Allen suffer.

"Can you please show me the way to the library." Allen said through tightly clenched teeth. Kanda was a sadist. That much was obvious. He was thoroughly enjoying Allen's discomfort. Well, If Kanda enjoyed anything.

"That's not begging, Moyashi."

Allen had developed a tick over her left eyebrow, one that only increased as the two boys stared at each other, neither flinching, neither backing down.

"Fine! I'll find it on my own." Allen snapped and turned his back on Kanda, stalking out of his room and resisting the childish urge to slam the door shut. In a dorm like this, it would not only be Kanda who heard it but everyone else in the building. He did not wish to inconvenience the rest of the school's population.

It couldn't be that hard to find the library. With a new resolve Allen set out.

He'd barely left the building when he heard somebody calling his name, turning he saw Lavi running towards him. They collided and the pair staggered backwards as Lavi mused Allen's hair.

"Moyashi!" He crooned happily as Allen wrestled his way free.

"My names Allen! Allen!"

"Where are you going Moyashi?" Allen let out an exasperated sigh. It felt like he was talking to a brick wall.

"I'm going to the library. I think..." Allen frowned. "I asked Kanda which way the Library was but he wouldn't tell me."

"Oh!" Lavi blinked in surprise. "That's where I'm going. I'll take you there." He grinned. "But if it's the library your after, you're heading the wrong way."

Allen blushed slightly. "I don't know this school very well yet." He admitted as he followed after Lavi – In the right direction this time.

"Speaking of which, why did you transfer in at the start of your of your Junior year?" Lavi asked curiously.

"Ahh…" Allen awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "… Circumstances?" He said sheepishly. Lavi raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further questions.

The library proved to be not to far from Allen's dorm and much larger than Allen had anticipated. He raised one snowy white eyebrow as it came into view.

A skilfully masoned brick building it seemed to loom over the already sizable campus, using the setting sun to cast a shadow over the many buildings scattered around its imposing form. Allen stared at it dumbstruck for a moment.

"It's uh... Bigger than I thought it would be." Allen said in a way that was meant to be tactful but fell short. Lavi chuckled and beckoned him forward as he pushed open the glass doors.

"The old panda managed to squeeze the government for every penny he could to get this place. I think that may be why the government is broke all the time."

The two had barely set foot in the building when a book came flying out of seemingly nowhere, slamming into Lavi's face and sending him staggering backwards as the dusty book sent out a cloud of dust bunnies and fell into his arms.

Alarmed, Allen took several steps backwards and debated the likelihood of being able to bolt out the door before he found himself victim of a flying book. The odds were looking pretty shaky.

"Just watch who you're calling a panda you insignificant punk." A voice hollered loudly and Allen found himself staring in amazement at the old man that had just rounded the corner.

Short and dark eyed with long, wispy hair and protruding elf-like ears Allen could immediately see where the 'Panda' nickname had came from. If it was not for the fact he was clothed and carrying an armful of books Allen would have had a hard time distinguishing him apart from his animal namesake.

"Uhhh..." Allen couldn't think of a damn good thing to say. The panda – man Allen corrected – before him cocked an eyebrow at him – at least Allen thought he did, the man was suspiciously lacking in the eyebrow department.

"Gee, you think you could be careful what you're throwing around gramps?" Lavi muttered as he stumbled back into a standing position, one arm absentmindedly cradling the book while the other rubbed his bruised nose as he glared resentfully at the old man.

"Then learn how to address your elders properly." The Panda impersonator snapped, snatching the book back from Lavi and adding it to the pile in his arms before setting the stack down on a nearby table. He turned to face Allen and the boy couldn't help but back up a few paces.

"Allen Walker." It wasn't a question but a statement of absolute certainty. Allen nodded and smiled at him. He was offered a hand which he gladly shook now that the threat of being decapitated by flying book was slightly lessened.

"I am the Bookman."

Although Allen didn't think that 'Bookman' was hardly a name he thought it best not to mention that fact after the Bookman had had little to no thoughts about tossing the book at Lavi before. Instead Allen settled for, "you know me?"

"But of course. It wouldn't do for a bookman to be ignorant over such a simple thing. I know all about you." The grip on his hand tightened somewhat and Allen found himself staring into the seemingly endless depths of the Bookman's eyes.

There was something about the way his sharp eyes were looking into his and his firm grip on his hand that sent a shiver down Allen's spine. I know all about you. Memories that Allen had long since wanted to bury clambered to the surface for a moment before Allen could push them back down.

"Do you now?" He queried, trying to keep his voice as smooth and normal as possible. A small, grim smile tugged at the corner of the Bookman's mouth and for a moment Allen thought he was going to reply, but that was not the case.

Slowly, Allen extracted his hand from the Bookman's grip, self consciously pulling it closer to his chest, cradling it.

Lavi's loud cough pulled Allen back down to earth. "So anyway gramps."

Lavi was rewarded with a smack to the head for that one but he persisted regardless. "You wanted me to come over and help out, right?"

The Bookman's eyes narrowed and he cocked a thumb towards the back. After much eye rolling Lavi slunk off, Allen could see and hear him routing around in the back room.

"What was it you were after?" The Bookman's voice reminded Allen of what he had set out to do.

"Well... Uh, I don't have much of an education to speak of and well... I just thought that I could improve my general knowledge a bit. You know, so it's not as difficult when the harder work comes..." Allen wasn't exactly sure how he had done getting his point across considering he had some what mangled his request on its way out but the Bookman nodded thoughtfully and gestured for Allen to take a seat while he swept off towards a stack of books.

Allen heaved a grateful sigh and eased himself down into a chair. The library was cluttered, even with the vast amount of room it offered. Shelfs were lined neatly with books and the side of the room Allen occupied was full of neatly arranged desks, the other full of the many bookcases well aligned. A row of computer terminals were lined just outside of the office in which Lavi's muted humming could be heard and a twisted spiral staircase angled itself upwards on to another floor full of god knows what.

Peering around Allen chuckled at the many, older looking desks pilled around the door, stacked high with books.

Bam!

Allen swore, jumping up to stare at the large pile of books that had just been deposited on the desk before him, an impassive looking Bookman standing next to him. Allen looked doubtfully up at the bookman and then back down at the books.

"All these are for me?" Allen asked in a small voice. The bookman nodded.

"General knowledge." He confirmed before breezing off, leaving Allen to stare glumly at the stack before him.

Heaving a sigh Allen reached over and flipped the cover of the first book open. Something told him he would be here a while.

oOo_____________________________________________oOo

Click.

Kanda looked up as the door to the room clicked open, revealing a very weary looking Beansprout who appeared just about ready to wilt. Barely glancing at Kanda he wove his way through the room to his wardrobe, rustling around in the bottom drawer.

Kanda glanced at his watch in disbelief. Nearly twelve thirty in the morning. "You've been in the library for six and a half hours?" He scoffed. Allen shot him a glare over his shoulder, mumbled something and disappeared into the bathroom with a bundle of clothes.

Kanda snorted and returned to the book he'd been reading – albeit reluctantly. Figuring the best way to get in practice with his beloved Mugen was to finish of all time consuming tasks early he had started off on the assigned novel for the term right away.

A few minutes later the sprout emerged from the bathroom dressed in a baggy white long sleeved shirt and loose black pants. His gloves still on his hands.

Kanda frowned. "You're going to sleep with those gloves on?"

"Yeah…" Allen didn't seem to paying much attention to what was being said, looking thoughtful, bothered and exhausted all at once. Without so much as another word to his less than friendly roommate he crawled into his bed and collapsed on the pillow.

Kanda wrinkled his nose in distaste as Allen's breathing seemed to immediately turn into the soft snores of troubled teen sleeping. Kanda was often annoyed and bewildered by some peoples strange ability to fall asleep at will, something he himself had never been particularly good at.

Snorting, he returned to his novel.

oOo__________________________________________________oOo

Thirty minutes later Kanda had accepted that it was time to turn in. He was having trouble focusing on the words in front of him and the Moyashi's constant tossing and turning and the occasional moan wasn't helping.

Frustrated, he slammed his book down and turned to glare over at Allen who was laying curled up in the centre of his bed, his blankets bunched around him.
"Che."

Kanda pushed his chair away from his desk and stalked over to wardrobe, changing into a loose black shirt and pants. Another moan sounded from Allen and Kanda turned to glare at him again as he placed his folded school uniform on the floor of the wardrobe.

Muttering in disapproval he vanished into the bathroom. Completing the evening ritual nearly every member of mankind was bound to he was just drying his face when he emerged from the bathroom.

"Mana…" The soft moan Allen's bed had become an actual word and Kanda watched as Allen's breath hitched and he turned over.

After a moment of silence Allen's regular breathing returned and Kanda frowned, turning to toss the towel he was holding back into the bathroom.

"Stop…"

Kanda whipped back around in time to see the thrashing begin.

Allen seemed to be fighting off a phantom attacker, his face panicked even in his sleep.

"Stop!" Allen repeated, this time such fear leaking into his voice that Kanda couldn't do anything but stare as the younger boy fought off his dream demons.

"Leave me alone!" Allen's voice had risen and by now his flailing had reached his peak. If this kept up he was going to injure himself.

Quickly Kanda darted to his side, grabbing his arms as he wrestled against him.

"Oi! Moyashi! Wake the fuck up!" he growled as Allen clawed at his grip – ineffective though as his hands were still clad in his gloves.

"Go away!"

Kanda pressed his elbow into Allen's gut, smothering him with his weight as he fought for control.

"Wake the fuck up! It's a fucking dream!" Kanda snapped, jabbing his elbow firmed into Allen's gut.

Gasping, Allen's eyes flew open and he blinked up at the ceiling, covered in a light sheen of sweat he appeared disorientated.

Grunting, Kanda relaxed his iron grip on his wrists and Allen seemed to realize for the first time that Kanda was half on him.

Instant reaction – Allen scrabbled backwards as Kanda sat up right on the edge of the bed, tightening his loosened pony tail as he glowered at the small British boy before him.

"What were you…"

"Trying to stop you from fucking destroying shit in your sleep. If you always throw a tantrum like that in the night I want you out of here."

Allen looked panicked. "Did I say something? What did I say?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow at Allen's apparent alarm. "You said Mana once or twice and kept cussing someone to get away from you." A look of some relief washed over Allen's features and he breathed out a pent up breath.

"Ah, yeah. Thank you, I guess."

"Don't fucking thank me. If you do it again I swear I'll strangle you in sleep." Kanda gave an annoyed 'che' and gave up fixing his pony tail, pulling the whole thing out he raked his fingers through it.

"Pleasant as always, I see." Allen murmured.

"Damn straight Moyashi." Kanda got up and stalked over to the bathroom.

"It's Allen! Allen!"

"Quit your whining Moyashi."

Allen seethed quietly for a moment as Kanda headed to the bathroom mirror to fix his ponytail. Smothering his anger Allen called out as sweetly as he could.

"Kanda?"

"Che."

"You should really wear your hair down more often. It look's so beautiful."

A bar of soap followed by the bathroom lamp came flying his way and Allen deduced with a grin that this battle was his.

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. I'm sorry if it has a few spelling errors but I've been working on it all day and I'm exhausted -.- If you could drop me another review It'd be appreciated :D